Success

Someone is going to have to start a "road to the WC" thread. I haven't been paying attention to that race the entire season, and have no idea who we want to win or lose right now.

THIS is why the Jags game hurts so much. The team never should have lost that - too careless, too self-absorbed. They bought their own hype and took some games too casually. Now, it's almost must-win the rest of the way. Very little margin for error - during the toughest part of our schedule. I still believe they can morph into the team they were after the Hail Murray last year - but it certainly won't shock me if they don't, and if this is what we have.

I think what alarmed me today was the team giving up. There was no heart in either unit - but watching that D was a head-shaker. When the Colts had 2nd and goal on the 10, I felt like I lost track of the missed, half-hearted arm tackles. The lack of effort has rarely been so visible. That's a real issue, heading into a tough & crucial stretch. That's coaching. I love McD - but it's not a good sign when a team gives up like that.

Gotta stay away from general message boards. I can already hear the countless "order has been restored to the universe" cliches....

We'll see. We were not going to get the 1 seed regardless. Any way you slice it, we have to win 3 games. The road might actually be better, depending on Buffalo weather. I'm not so jaded that I won't have hope at this point, especially when we're still in the WC race, are a 1/2 game back of the division, and have 2 games w/ the division leader left. Let's see how it goes. We could lose the rest, or we could get healthy, sweep the Pats and roll into the playoffs.

Feels like the drought. It feels almost exactly like the drought.

That 1 year division run was awesome. I really can't believe this is happening.

Hey, thanks. Just curious: have you taken the training on message board etiquette when posting on another team's board when they're getting blown out, and your own team assumes 1st place in the division?

If we still make the playoffs, I won't care about a game like this. But I think it's very up in the air right now. This team lost its heart today. They have to find it - QUICK. The next month is brutal. We could easily miss the playoffs this year.

I'll feel better about the apocalypse if it means that NE won't win any more SB's. Silver linings.

I can't do another decade, and definitely not 2. Seriously, it would put me over the edge. Pats fans don't even care about winning anymore. They just want to make the league miserable.

I'm not losing complete faith for this season - but we seem to have some pretty insurmountable flaws. The line, man. I don't really get it. Feels like the worst we've had - even considering the drought years.

I'm already doing those mental gymnastics - "If they can just get within 10 by the 4th, then maybe get a turnover, then have the ball at the end w/ a chance to win..." It's just so drought-ish.

Don't listen to any Bill Simmons' pods.

I'm glad that ticky penalty didn't turn into anything. Still time here. Let's get it together.

We have had so many ticky tacks against us on 3rd downs this year. It feels like a record.

Let's see if we can pull the big comeback. Great teams can do stuff like that. This season has been tough. 10 years ago, if you had told me I'd be complaining when in 1st place at Thanksgiving, I would have laughed. But this team is too good, and we've waited too long for this. I'm a bit on the edge.

So, if we lose today - are we tied w/ NE, or do they have the lead outright?

SO many mistakes this season, all season. Bad penalties, turnovers, missed tackles. What is up w/ this team? They should be better than last year.

Man, what an important game. Spilled milk, but I wish we weren't in this position. Every team has "what if" games at the end of a season, but I feel like the Bills have more than their quota. I think we beat Pitt if they weren't game 1, Jax was the ultimate weird mulligan, and even TN came down to a half yard. Not much margin for error, especially w/ this stretch coming up.

I'm also a Yankees fan. In 2003, I would never have gone on a Red Sox board with the kind of humble bragging I see from Pats fans here. Is it really a surprise that some Bills fans (like me) are just a wee bit sensitive to anything Patriots related, especially when the whole country is tuning into a narrative of "well, the Bills, Jets & Phins had a year - but BB is back now."? Please. 20 years is an eternity in sports. The Bills finally break through, and I have Pats fans here on this board telling me how great the Pats are again, how Mac is the 2nd coming & the rest.

The bolded is a mantra for Pats fans. Do you know how many games during the 2 decades of Brady the Bills "almost" won? Almost winning doesn't really count. People forget that before Cam's fumble, Davis uncharacteristically dropped an easy TD that would have put the Bills up 7. Why doesn't that play count? Why is it always "if Cam hadn't fumbled?" Your team lost twice to the Bills in 2020. They were swept. Period.

How do you think ol' Mac is gonna do when he has to play from down a few scores? The Pats have a good O-line & run game, and a great D. That's awesome while they're leading games.

That was a tough game. Every time I thought we were pulling away, they'd make it close again. The drought was underrated. Playoff games are stressful when your team is in them.

The hype is out of control - and it's only because he's a Patriot. Listening to the guys on the Thurs. night broadcast was a chore. Jones threw that pass to Bourne for the TD - Bourne had no one within 10 yards, and Jones had absolutely no pressure, and it was a short pass - and the way those guys talked you would have thought it was a 50-yarder that threaded the needle between 3 defenders, all while Jones had a blitz right in his face. People are already declaring him the best QB from the draft.